Adventures of the Shinsengumi
by KoharuOkami
Summary: Koharu Okami is a geisha who finds herself escaping from Shimabara in order to follow her dream to become a samurai. However, on the night she escapes she runs into a weird looking man, and her life is changed forever. (Rated M for violence and language)
1. Prologue

Prologue

The life of a maiko is one that not many women desire, however one way or another many find that life thrust upon them. As a child of a geisha, I was born to follow in my mother's footsteps. My mother however never knew my father, and my elder sister Shinkumi has been my caretaker for most of my life, due to my mother's tuberculosis.

I never wanted to be a maiko, nor do I wish to grow up to become a geisha. My sister, however, wanted nothing more.

My name is Koharu Okami, and I am fifteen years of age. My sister Shinkumi is now nineteen, and has recently become a full-fledged geisha after she partook in mizuage, like our mother did when she was her age.

I had no desire to do the same, I had another dream in mind.

I wanted to a samurai.

My mother and Shinkumi both laughed at me for this, and explained that samurai were only men. I was a fool to even consider giving my life to the shogunate. But my heart knew what it wanted.

Long ago, at Shimabara, I was pouring sake for a group of warriors. An older man named Kondou, and his recruits. They claimed to be a starting group of samurai (most likely ronin actually) who worked for the shogun, protecting the streets of Kyoto. They wore blue jackets over their kimonos, and always had spirit shining in their eyes. (But it could have just been the sake.)

I forgot what they called themselves, but ever since that day I dreamed of protecting the streets of Kyoto like they did. I wanted to be strong, I wanted to be noticed. And not just because of my presence in a room pouring sake for people.

I wanted to make a difference.

"Alright, alright that's enough…"

I quickly looked up. I hadn't even realized that I was in the middle of a practice session with my sister. I slowly lowered my hands from my shamisen and sighed.

"You must put in more emotion, Koharu. Grace adds to the music. Allow me to demonstrate." Shinkumi took the instrument from my hands and elegantly began to play. I and looked down without interest. The song was beautiful, yet I had no desire to learn and play it.

I stood up from my tatami mat and walked over to the window, my long brown hair coming loose from its original state of being tied up.

"Koharu, I just did your hair!" Shinkumi wined and stood up after she finished playing.

"I want to wear my hair long, sister." I murmured.

"Then find a patron and run away with him." She said and roughly began to tie up my hair again.

She would always tease me like that. But I knew it wasn't that easy.

"I do not wish to live like this. Can't you understand?" I said as I looked at my reflection in the water outside the window.

"No. This is your life Koharu, you can't abandon it." She scolded, tugging at my hair. "However, if you take part in the ceremony and become a full geisha, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I know that as a meiko it's hard, I was there too once, but look at how much happier I am now." She smiled widely, showing off her pure white teeth.

I pulled away from her probing hands that messed with my hair. "I wish I was a boy so I could be a samurai!" I said, anger in my eyes.

Shinkumi sighed and shook her head. "Please not this again… you know that it won't happen, so just stop dreaming about the impossible."

I shot a glare at her. "Stop dreaming about the impossible? Then how about you stop dreaming that he'll come back for you!"

She took a step back, as if my gaze was a dagger in her stomach.

After a mizuage, the patron is prohibited from contacting the maiko, regardless of the bond they shared. Shinkumi looked away.

"That's not impossible, it's just unlikely…" she said softly, caressing the back of her hand.

I sighed. "I'm sorry… I just… I wish I was free, you know?" I looked out the window. "I wish I was the wind, so I could soar through the skies and blow through the trees. I don't want to be confined to this life."

Shinkumi decided it was her turn to shoot her dagger-like gaze toward me.

"Then why don't you just leave?!" She barked. "It's not like you'll ever become a full geisha with your horrible dancing and musical skills anyway!"

As much as I hated the thought of becoming a geisha, I loved playing instruments and dancing. It hurt me to hear her say that. Then again, I probably deserved it after how mean I was to her.

"Sister… I'm sorry I don't know what came over me…" I began as I walked over to console her.

"No. This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last." She glared at me again, then sighed. "Just…just run. Get out of here. I'll pretend like I didn't see anything."

My eyes widened. "Shinkumi! You can't be serious!"

She turned away from me and crossed her arms. "Go. I'll give you ten seconds and then my offer ends."

I couldn't move. I was frozen in place. All my life I had waited for this moment, but for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to run.

"Ten." Shinkumi began.

"Sister please-"

"Nine."

I could hardly believe my ears. Was this all just a dream? If it was, I don't know if I wanted to wake up, or remain dreaming.

"Eight."

I couldn't bare it any longer.

"Sister...I'm sorry." I whimpered.

There was a pause before she continued.

"Seven."

I took that as my goodbye, and I bolted from the room, and out of the geisha house, sticking to the midday shadows to avoid being seen.

I could hardly believe what was happening. It really was a dream come true! I was free. The wind that I had only dreamed of blew through my hair, loosening it once again from atop my head, and it flowed freely down my back, like an auburn waterfall in the autumn sky.

_"__Six."_

But all dreams must come to an end at some point.

_"__Five."_

I fell back with a thud as I bumped into the tall, muscular figure that stood before me, as if some sort of barrier blocking my path to freedom.

_"__Four."_

I rubbed my head and looked up to see his blonde hair and blood red eyes. Who was this man? As he looked down at me, a small smirk appeared on his face.

_"__Three."_

It was then I realized that this wasn't a dream come true.

_"__Two."_

But instead it was a nightmare, and I was nowhere near close to being awoken.

_"__One."_


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Birdsong has always been something I looked forward to. Hearing the carefree music of those guardians of the skies, it was like hearing angels serenading us, almost like they pitied us for not being free like them.

"You brought a geisha here?"

That voice, it was unfamiliar, and cold. Where exactly was I?

"She was being harassed by someone, I couldn't just leave her there." Another voice responded.

I opened my eyes, but I still saw nothing but darkness. Was I blindfolded?

"I'm just going to make sure she didn't see anything she shouldn't have. Then I'll bring her back to Shimabara."

Was I taken somewhere? It began to sound like I was rescued, but what exactly was I rescued from? I couldn't remember. All I could see in my mind where those blood red eyes, and that golden blonde hair. And Shinkumi… She let me escape…

Suddenly a flash of light almost blinded me as my blindfold was removed. I realized I was tied up on a mat, in some sort of room. In front of me was a group of three men. I did _not _like these circumstances at all.

"Hey sleeping beauty." One of the men said. His hair was long and red, just like the edges of his kimono. "You were out cold for a long time."

"W-Wha…?" I mumbled, still not entirely sure of what was happening.

"Looks like this 'damsel in distress' wants some explanation from her 'heroes,'" another man with brown hair that was tied up behind his head said. "And I would also like to hear what the hell you two were thinking."

"Okita…" the final man, one with short reddish-brown hair, said. He scratched at the back of his head, "…we were just trying to be save her."

The man with brown hair, presumably named 'Okita', snorted loudly, "Hijikata will be pissed when he finds out you brought a geisha to our base! I mean, I knew you were a womanizer but geeze Nagakura, I thought you had at least _some _taste in women."

I felt my cheeks flush red with anger and a rush of assertiveness washed over me as I felt my mouth open.

"Are we going to forget the fact that I'm right here?! Please tell me why I'm in this place!" I pleaded. Maybe I wasn't as assertive as I was trying to be…

The man with long red hair had a kind sparkle in his eye as he kneeled down to look at me.

"Sorry kid," he began. "I guess you don't remember. You see, we were on patrol and we saw you getting pulled along by this guy. You seemed pretty upset, so we did what we could to get him away from you."

I looked up at the man. "So…in order to keep me from getting kidnapped…you kidnapped me?"

All three of the men's faces turned blank, and Okita started to laugh hysterically.

"Haha nice try girl, but you know why you're here! You saw something you shouldn't have, and we need to make sure your mouth stays shut." He said, an evil smirk crossing his face.

The red-haired man gasped. "Okita! Maybe she didn't see anything! You can't jump to conclusions like that!"

Okita rolled his eyes. "Geisha are known for being sneaky little things, I'm sure she knows that the only way to get out of this situation is to lie and say she didn't see anything. But knowing the two of you idiots, you probably weren't careful at all. I'm certain that she saw, isn't that right?"

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about! I can hardly remember anything!" I whimpered, feeling helpless as I struggled in the rope tied around me.

Suddenly I felt an amazing amount of force hit my side, and I basically flew across the room due to the heavy impact. Okita had kicked me! My mind was now in a blind fury of anger. How dare he?!

"Nice try you little bitch. You aren't getting out of this alive!" Okita sneered, almost seeming excited as his hand grabbed the hilt of the sword at his side.

"Okita stop!" The man with reddish-brown hair growled.

"Stay outta this Nagakura! She saw too much!" Okita snapped as I saw a glint of metal shine in the sunlight peering through the windows. He was drawing his sword, and I could tell that I was its target.

"See you in hell, hope you have fun dancing for Satan!" Okita chuckled, laughing at his own joke as he brought his sword above his head, and swiftly slashed it down, right at me.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"Souji!" I heard someone yell.

My eyes squinted open and I saw an older looking man (Perhaps in his late forties) with black hair standing in the doorway.

Okita's sword stopped mere inches away from me, and he looked up at the new man.

"What do you think you are doing!? Who is this young lady?" The man asked with a nervous look on his face.

"K-Kondou!" Okita stammered with disbelief.

Kondou? Where had I heard that name before...?

My eyes suddenly widened. I had served him and his comrades before at Shimabara! But wait, now I remember, the red haired man and the others were there too! In fact I had seen all of them before at Shimabara. Especially the red and short haired man. They were regulars there.

"P-Please help me…" I murmured softly.

Kondou instantly sat me up and untied my ropes. I had a liking for this man.

"I am so sorry miss!" He said as he stood back up after untying me. He shot a deadly glance at the three men. "What is the meaning of this!?"

Okita was the one who spoke.

"Sanosuke and Shinpatchi were out on patrol when they found this geisha being harassed so they tried to save her. _Unfortunately _she might have seen something she shouldn't have, so they brought her back here for questioning."

"This doesn't look like questioning to me! It looks more like murder!" Kondou snapped.

Okita looked down at me and the red-haired man spoke up.

"Shinpatchi and I were going to question her, but Souji didn't give us the chance to." He replied.

Okita's face turned pale as Kondou looked at him with anger in his eyes.

"Is that true, Souji?" Kondou asked.

Okita scratched the back of his neck, "It was just a test to make sure she was telling the truth. I wasn't actually going to kill her…"

Kondou looked down at me.

"I apologize dearly for the way these men have acted. Please, forgive them, miss." He said.

I nodded slowly, not because I forgave Okita, but because I was scared to find out what would happen if my answer was 'no.'

"Sanosuke, stay in here and see what her side of the story is. I'm going to have a word with Souji." Kondou said as he glared at Okita.

I almost thought I heard Okita gulp as everyone besides the red-haired man left the room.

He looked down at me and scratched his neck.

"Sorry about Souji… He can be a bit rash at times. But don't worry, I'll hear you out!" He said with a smile.

I nodded again, not sure what to say.

"Well before that how about we introduce ourselves, huh? I'm Sanosuke Harada, the other man with short hair is Shinpatchi Nagakura, and the one that attempted to kill you, that was Souji Okita. Oh, and the man with black hair is our leader, Kondou." He smiled with respect as he mentioned his leader's name. "How about you? Do you have a name, miss?"

"K-Koharu. Koharu Okami." I whimpered, still nervous about everything that had been going on.

"Koharu, eh? I think I've seen you at Shimabara a few times. You're quite the good dancer." He said.

Now he was just lying to help me feel better. I knew that I wasn't the best dancer.

"Well, let's make this quick. I'm sure you want to get back. What's your side of the story, Koharu?"

I felt tears well up in my eyes, I'm not sure if they were from fear or if I was just too overwhelmed by everything that happened that day.

I told him everything. How I was training to be a geisha, how my sister let me escape Shimabara, and how I bumped into the man with red eyes.

Harada scratched his chin. "Hmm… so you really don't remember anything after bumping into that man?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes, my mind is completely blank after that happened."

Harada patted my head, and I admit that I was beginning to feel a little better.

"Well I think your story seems legit. However you still need to convince our commander, Hijikata, before we let you go." He said.

Hijikata. I heard Okita mention him earlier. And from what I heard, it didn't seem like this Hijikata was the easiest man to get along with. Then again, that was said by Okita, and he didn't seem like the easiest person to get along with either.

Suddenly the door slid open again, and a new man appeared.

He had long, purple hair and beautiful blue eyes. His kimono was black besides a white trailing that flowed behind him.

"Sanosuke, are you done interrogating her?" he asked.

Harada nodded stood up. "Yeah, I don't think she saw anything."


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Authors Note:

Hi everyone! KoharuOkami here! This is my first Author's Note, and first of all I would just like to thank everyone who has favorited and followed this story. Sorry I'm not that consistent with updating it. I'll be trying to write a new chapter at least once every two weeks. Most likely on Saturdays or Sundays. And I'm sorry for this short chapter, but I promise the next few chapters will be longer! Anyway I appreciate any comments and/or feedback! Thank you all again for reading this! Now let's get back to the story, shall we?

It was the first time I saw everyone together.

I was in the common room, surrounded by the men. A few new faces looked me up and down, curious about my arrival in their compound.

Kondou had explained to me that I was in the headquarters of the Shinsengumi; a group of samurai (well, my guess was that they were actually ronin) that guarded the streets of Kyoto.

Though I still wasn't exactly sure why I was there, to be honest. All I knew was that they supposedly saved me from the red-eyed man, but I may have seen something that I shouldn't have.

But what was it that I shouldn't have seen? Did they end up killing the red-eyed man? I was confused, and it looked as though a few others were confused as well.

"She looks innocent to me," one of the new men, named Toudou Heisuke, said. He had long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and bright blue-green eyes. He was the youngest of the leaders. I think Harada said he was leader of the 8th division. Either way, he seemed to pity me, most likely because we were closest in age.

"We can't know that. No matter what she says, there will always be the possibility that she is lying."

All eyes turned to the man who had just entered the room.

He had shoulder length brown hair and glasses that glinted in the sunlight that entered the room through the windows.

Kondou leaned over and whispered in my ear; "That's Sanan, he's the vice commander."

Sanan smiled, but it seemed to be anything but a friendly gesture. "Thank you Kondou, but I think I could have introduced myself."

"Y-Yes of course." Kondou studdered. It appeared that he was almost _scared _of this new man. He quickly shook the fear from his eyes. "What do you think of the situation, Sanan-San?" He asked.

Sanan pushed up his glasses, "I think that killing her would be the easiest way to end this quickly and without regret…"

I gulped, and a few of the leader's eyes fell on me. Were they really going to kill me? More than anything I wished I had just stayed at Shimabara.

Suddenly he spoke. Not Sanan, but the samurai I had seen earlier. The one with long purple hair, and those beautiful blue eyes.

"It would not be good for us if it gets out that we have killed innocent people," he said, his face calm and blank.

Hajime Saito. That was his name, and he was leader of the third division. He seemed to be the stoic type who was the brains of their group. But why was he standing up for me? Unless he couldn't care less about me, and just wanted the matter to be resolved as quickly as possible.

But either way, I was thankful for him. And as I looked into his eyes as the room erupted with conflicting thoughts, I saw a calm serenity within in. One I would soon find myself growing very fond of.

Part of me knew that this was a person of whom I would want to spend my life with.


End file.
